Grumman A-6M Intruder

[ValAstur]

Long before the F-14EJ Hyo became part of the JMSDF, allowing the JMSDF to obtain their first carrier after WWII, the japanese Navy wanted to start using planes for coastal defense.

Although the JASDF was tasked to protect Japan from foreign aggressors, the high command of the JMSDF wanted to be more "free" from the chain of command. A bit renegade at first glance, the ministry of defense thought that it would enable a much faster response to a threat. In spite of not having fast and agile planes, the JMSDF relied on the capabilities of strike aircraft for anti-ship action, enabling strikes and interceptions of possible incoming invasion fleets.

 

In order to achieve this, the ministry of defense ordered more than 200 of A-6 and A-7 class planes, which were got delivered in the beginning of the 1970s and fitted to the needs of the JMSDF. The A-6M (JMSDF-designation for the Intruder) raised polemics among the american hardliners due to it's referring to the ZERO, the feared interceptor from the last war. Japan only replied: "If you would take a closer look on the writing, you would notice that the new plane is written with a hyphen between the A and the 6, while the Zero was not."

 

Both planes were taken out of commision in 1994 and did not do service on the Varukiri, the new japanese carrier.